Mick McCarthy - Irish Soccer
Manager

Mick McCarthy

In February 1996 Mick McCarthy
became the manager of the Republic of Ireland football team following
the resignation of the highly successful Jack
Charlton. McCarthy had played for, and captained, the Republic of
Ireland when Charlton was the Irish manager and had earned a total of
57 international caps.

Prior to his appointment
by the FAI as
Irish manager he had managed Milwall FC in England for three years.

Mick McCarthy Football Background

Mick McCarthy was born
in Barnsley, England on 7th February 1959. He began his professional football
career playing for his local club, Barnsley FC and went on to make 272
appearances for the club. In 1983 he signed for Second Division Manchester
City and it was with City that he played top flight football when the
club won promotion to the old First Division.

In 1987 he joined Glasgow
Celtic in Scotland and it was hear that McCarthy won his first major silverware
as the club won the League and Cup double in his first season. He made
48 appearances for Celtic before transferring to Lyon in France.

He had little success with
Lyon and only made 10 appearances for the French club. Mick McCarthy finished
his playing days with Milwall making his last professional appearance
in 1992.

Mick McCarthy - International Career

Mick McCarthy qualified
to play for Ireland as his father was Irish and he made his debut for
the Republic of Ireland on 23rd May 1984 at Dalymount
Park in a 0-0 draw. His first competitive match was in a 3-0 loss
to Denmark 1986
World cup qualifier in Copenhagen in November 1984. Eoin
Hand was the Irish manager at the time. McCarthy came into the team
when Ireland was on a poor run of results however the appointment
of Jack Charlton as Irish manager that heralded a golden era for Irish
football and for Mick McCarthy. Often considered somewhat ponderous and
less skilful than other Irish centre halves of the time, McCarthy suited
the Charlton football style.
McCarthy became a fixture in the Irish defence under Charlton and captained
Ireland during the 1990 World Cup finals earning himself the nickname
Captain Fantastic. His last match for Ireland was during the US
Cup in June 1992 against Portugal.

Mick McCarthy as Republic of Ireland Manager

Following the resignation
of Jack Charlton the FAI deliberated long and hard over who should replace
the most successful Irish manager ever. Charlton would be a hard act to
follow and the choice came down to just Mick McCarthy and fellow Irish
centre half Kevin Moran.
The FAI decided to go with McCarthy because of his three years managerial
experience with Milwall. McCarthy's task was made more difficult because
the Irish squad was old and was in need of rebuilding.

Mick McCarthy's First Match as Irish Manager

To facilitate the rebuilding
efforts McCarthy undertook to play a series of eight friendly matches.
His first match as Irish manager was a home match against Russia. It was
an inauspicious start as the Russians won 2-0 and Ireland had Roy Keane
sent off. It was not until McCarthy's seventh game in charge that he tasted
success with a 3-0 victory over Bolivia in the US Cup in New Jersey.

Developments During the Mick McCarthy
Era

Mick McCarthy used a much
less direct, and more creative, playing style than his predecessor Jack
Charlton. This was a surprise to most fans and football
pundits as McCarthy was an uncompromising player and was viewed as
an acolyte of Charlton. McCarthy's more attractive playing style was supported
by the emergence of new young talented players such as Robbie Keane, Damien
Duff, Ian Harte, and Kenny Cunningham.

Mick McCarthy's First Match Competitive
as Irish Manager

Mick McCarthy's first competitive
match was the first tie in the 1998
World Cup qualifiers. On the 31st of August 1996 McCarthy kicked off
his competitive international management career with a 0-5 win over Liechtenstein
in Eschen. This was followed by a 3-0 home win over FYR Macedonia. Unfortunately
the wheels cam off for McCarthy with a 0-0 home draw with Iceland and
an away 3-2 loss to Macedonia. Ireland finished the qualifiers in second
place in group 8 but a full ten points behind the group winners Romania.
Second place was enough to qualify for a play-off with Belgium over two
matches. Following a 1-1 draw at Lansdowne
Road (now the Aviva
Stadium) in the first leg McCarthy's Ireland were beaten 2-1 with
a 70th minute winner from Luc Nilis.

Euro 2000 Championship Qualification Campaign

For the 2000
Euro qualifiers Ireland drew Yugoslavia, Croatia, Macedonia and Malta
in group 8. Yugoslavia and Croatia had strong teams at the time and qualification
was a tall order. By this time Mick McCarthy's squad bore little resemblance
to that which he inherited from Jack Charlton. Despite this Ireland began
the campaign with an impressive 2-0 home win over Croatia. Later in the
group Ireland also dispatched Yugoslavia 2-1 at Lansdowne Road. Unfortunately
away losses to the two Balkan states meant that Ireland finished up just
a single point behind Yugoslavia and once again facing a two match play-off.
Turkey provided the opposition in the play-off and an 84th minute penalty
by Turkey's Tayfur effectively settled the tie. That penalty earned the
Turks a 1-1 draw at Lansdowne Road. The return match in Bursa ended in
a 0-0 stalemate and Turkey qualified for Euro 2000 on the away goals rule.

2002 World Cup Qualification Campaign

The draw for the 2002 World
Cup qualifiers was even more daunting than the previous campaign. McCarthy's
Ireland was drawn with European footballing powerhouses of the Netherlands
and Portugal. Estonia, Cyprus and Andorra were also drawn in group 2.
They idea of finishing ahead of either of the big two teams seemed highly
improbable. Despite this Ireland started the group off with away draws
with Holland and Portugal. An impressive start that could have been so
much better had Ireland not let a 0-2 lead - with just 20 minutes to go
- slip in Amsterdam. Ireland's progress through the group was marked by
some thoroughly compelling performances by captain Roy
Keane. It was by no means a one-man show but in some matches the Corkman
was the difference between success and failure. Ireland's penultimate
match in the group at home to Holland proved decisive. Despite being reduced
to ten men Ireland triumphed through a fine strike by Jason
McAteer. Ireland finished behind Portugal on goal difference but four
points ahead of the Dutch. At the third time of asking Mick McCarthy led
Ireland to a play-off victory against Iran on a 2-1 aggregate score and
qualified for the 2002 World Cup. McCarthy had become only the second
team manager to steer Ireland to a major football championship final competition.

2002 World Cup & The Saipan Incident

What should have been a
unifying celebration of Irish football was blighted by the infamous Saipan
Incident that involved a major row between Republic of Ireland manager
Mick McCarthy, and Irish captain Roy Keane. This sorry episode is dealt
with in great detail elsewhere in this site.

Ireland took to the field
in the first group match on 1st June 2002 against one of the strongest
African teams, Cameroon, with inspirational captain Roy Keane. Despite
Keane's absence and finding themselves 1-0 down in the first half the
Irish team rallied in the second half and earned a creditable 1-1 draw.

The second match against
Germany in Ibraki ended in an identical scoreline with Robbie
Keane scoring an injury time equaliser. The third match was far more
comfortable affair and Mick McCarthy's team won 3-0 through goals from
Robbie Keane, Gary Breen, and Damien
Duff.

Five points was enough
for Ireland to make it to the knockout stages for an encounter with Spain.
Yet again Ireland fell behind in this World Cup as Morientes scored after
eight minutes. After the normally dependable Ian Harte missed a penalty
it looked like Ireland were heading home however Robbie Keane converted
Ireland's second penalty of the match in the last minute. This sent the
match into extra time in which McCarthy's men dominated but could not
score. In the ensuing penalty shoot-out Spain emerged victorious. Matt
Holland, David Connolly, and Kevin Kilbane all missed their penalties
and Ireland really were heading home.

Mick McCarthy Resigns as Republic of Ireland
Manager

The 2002 World Cup was
the most dramatic period for Mick McCarthy during his term as Republic
of Ireland manager. The schisms caused by the Saipan Incident left McCarthy
in a vulnerable position and it was crucial that Ireland got off to a
good start in the 2004
Euro qualifiers. The exact opposite happened as the Irish were badly
beaten 4-2 away to Russia. Worse was to follow when Switzerland beat Ireland
1-2 at Lansdowne Road. The clamour from the pro-Roy Keane camp became
unbearable for Mick McCarthy and the FAI. In November 2002 Mick McCarthy
resigned as Irish manager. While McCarthy's Irish football legacy will
be blighted by the Saipan affair
he has the distinction of being one, of only two, Irish managers to steer
Ireland to the World Cup finals. Despite having to almost totally rebuild
the Irish squad following Jack Chalton's term McCarthy raised Ireland's
FIFA rankings from 54 to 13.